Lily's Grandmother
by Hippothestrowl
Summary: Lily Luna Potter envies her father's exciting life and wishes for an adventure of her own. On the night before she starts Hogwarts she gets one! Time twist story that will bend your mind!
1. Lily's Wish

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 _This is the true story of Lily Evans known only to a few and kept well hidden by them. Our strange tale begins way beyond Harry's time at Hogwarts. He's a family man now and has a daughter. Read on..._

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 **LILY'S GRANDMOTHER**

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 **Chapter 1**

 **Lily's Wish**

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Twenty-one Years Later

The last evening of August, 2019 remained warm after the sun had finally set, and the sky, still gold and glowing through the window, illuminated a young girl's full Hogwarts attire that her mother had insisted she try for size one more time.

"I won't go!" pouted Lily Luna Potter, grinding her shiny new shoe into the living room carpet and averting her face from both mother and father.

Harry Potter sighed. "But when Albus started at Hogwarts, you couldn't wait to join the boys there. Anyway, you have to learn about magic, Lily."

"Dad, you've already taught me spells and–"

"–I've taught you plenty to give you a head start but you still need a formal–"

"–But James said it's boring. I want exciting adventures like those you had, like all those stories you told me."

"Trust me, you do _not_ want to be fighting trolls or... rescuing beautiful maidens from secret chambers." He glanced sideways at Ginny, who smiled back at him and took over:

"Lily, that's where your father's adventures began – at Hogwarts," she said soothingly. "Who knows what might happen to you there one day?"

"Nothing! That's what will happen to me! NOTHING!" Lily ran to the door. "I just wish for once something wonderful would happen," Lily shrilled back as she raced out into the garden.

"Be careful what you wish for!" Harry called after her.

"Well, that went well." He shook his head. "What on Earth's got into her? She was really keen to go only a few days ago."

"Oh, Harry, she still is, of course. It's nerves mixed up with doubts about living up to the expectations she thinks will be placed on the daughter of the 'Chosen One'."

Ginny walked to the window and looked out. A puzzled frown creased her brow. "Who's that she's with? One of her Muggle friends from the village?"

Harry came to look. His eyes scanned past Ginny's formidable row of hydrangeas and along the shallow ditch at the lower corner of the garden. Near the side where a muddy trench petered out, a cracked path continued, and Lily was stood upon it talking to another young child over the squat hedge. The long tresses of both girls glowed redly in the light from the western skyline.

Ginny gasped, then began to cry. Harry stared for a moment then took her in arms. He tried his best to comfort his wife but now he was weeping too.

"My poor little baby's going out into the big world all on her own," sobbed Ginny.

"It's alright. It'll be alright, Ginny. She'll be back in here in a few minutes..."

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The Strange Girl

"Hello," said the visitor.

Lily frowned and moved her hand very slowly towards her wand – as she had been so carefully taught. "Uuh... who are you?"

"Oh, I'm so glad you're magical too!" said the newcomer, seeing Lily's wand being gradually drawn from her waistband, but not recognising that the manner was defensive. "I got my own wand a few weeks ago." The girl pointed to the duffle bag slung over one shoulder but made no move to retrieve its contents.

"But why are you here?" said Lily.

"Oh, sorry, I, erm... wanted to find out about my relat– that is, my distant relatives," she added hastily.

"I'm fetching my dad," said Lily, spinning away. The sole of her right shoe scraped noisily around the dirt gravel on the paving leaving an imprint as she took her first stride.

"No, wait, please hear me out," cried the girl. "It's not what you think. I was afraid of what might happen so I came to find out how things worked out. Just to look, not talk, you understand. When you dashed so furiously into the garden, you took me by surprise."

Lily held still, then turned slowly around, keeping her distance. "How can anyone find out how things worked out?"

The stranger hesitated.

Lily scowled. "Tell me or I'm fetching my dad." She scuffed more marks on the path with her best kicking foot.

There was a nod of acceptance and the girl's hand crept towards the strap of her bag. Lily pointed her wand as a warning. "How?" She repeated.

"With this." The hand held up something that glittered like fire in the dwindling sunset.

Lily drew nearer until she discerned an ornament resembling an hour-glass tied to a Muggle clockwork device. Her eyes flashed wide and she took a step back. "That's a...!"

"So you know what it is?" said the girl with some surprise.

"Yes," frowned Lily. "It's a Time-Turner. My auntie told me all about them – warned me about the danger. You shouldn't have come back just to find out how... things would work out. That makes no sense anyway."

"Uuh... well, no, I didn't come _back_ – well I did but I also came uumm... forward if you see what I mean."

"No, I don't. You can't travel forward in time. And certainly not go back all in the same moment."

The stranger laughed. "No, what I mean is, I came forward to yesterday in Diagon Alley but it took me a week of searching the Daily Prophet archives to find my – that is, _your_ family name – and another day to locate you, so when I got here my grand– erm... all you children weren't home, so I travelled back a few more days to the early hours of this morning. I wanted to see each of you – just to be sure you were alright."

"Naturally we wouldn't have been here in a few days because my brothers and I will all be off to Hogwarts tomorrow. And–"

"–Oh, me too, and I have new robes and a cloak exactly like yours in my bag!" squealed the girl but Lily continued like an express train that wouldn't be stopped now it had started:

"–And why shouldn't we be alright? And you can't time travel for longer than a day nor even twice within a day. And I don't believe you, so there!"

The stranger smiled warmly. "I'm glad you're so cautious and sensible. I read good things about our... that is, your family. I was pleased to learn your grandfather was a man called Potter, and I saw, uuh... _his_ son Harry at the window a while ago. He's lovely."

"Ah, so it's all about my dad? I might have guessed," Lily said glumly. "So many exciting things happened to him there's nothing interesting left for anyone else. The Chosen One – p'uh!"

"Who? Ah, yes, I spotted a little about that too but I didn't read it all."

Lily stared for a moment then moved closer, squinting as daylight dwindled. "So you're a cousin or something from way back in the past? You do look a bit like me."

"A lot like you actually. Same hair. Same eyes. Very similar features too." She pointed at her delicately-upturned nose, then her cheek and chin.

"But you can't simply stroll through different years just to see how – anyway, I still don't believe you. Time-Turners don't work like that."

"Only because they're physically restricted." The girl leaned forward over the low hedge. "See that microscopically-tiny grub screw?"

"A micro – grub – what?"

"Well it obviously held a lock pin in place but even though he didn't know what the device was for, Dad and I pulled it out with pliers and–"

"A what pin with what?"

"A lock pin that – ah! I forgot witches think magically not mechanically... Oh, Goodness! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to call _you_ a witch."

"Why not? That's what I am. And so are you, aren't you?"

"Uuh... you're right. I'm just not used to talking like that yet. I mean I know now that I'm magical but–"

"You're Muggle-born! I wondered why you were dressed so funny but your clothes are not much like any Muggles I've seen. I thought you were going to an old fancy-dress party or something!"

The girl flushed with indignation. "Well there's no need to be so–"

"Oh, don't get me wrong – I like Muggle-borns," said Lily. "My favourite auntie's one and she's really smart! It's just that, well, I knew you weren't a Muggle obviously."

"So you're not mad at me anymore?"

"No, all Muggle-borns act a bit... different." Lily winked and the girl smiled again as Lily continued, "I mean, why take such a risk travelling through time?" Lily frowned as her own question became more direct. "Why did you?"

A sigh blew out from between the girl's lips and her shoulders sagged. "I suppose it _was_ rather reckless but..."

"Tell me. Perhaps I can help. I'd like to help in fact. My life is as dull as that ditchwater." Petulantly, she kicked a stone into the mud and received a splash on her shoes in return.

"Well... because both of my parents are Muggles, Professor McGonagall – she's the one who brought my Hogwarts acceptance letter – was to take me to Diagon Alley, but instead it was agreed I could go with my magical friend and his mother. We spent a whole glorious day exploring and I found this old necklace in a box of bric-a-brac in a No-Turn Alley shop."

"Knockturn."

"Sorry, yes, _Knockturn_ Alley. Anyway my friend ridiculed me and said it was disabled and just for show and when I said my dad might fix it he scoffed and called him a nasty word. And he's also upset my sister and turned her against me – she's not magical either you see, and he doesn't like–"

"–Doesn't sound like much of a friend!"

The stranger's face clouded. "I thought he was amazing and interesting and entrancing at first and he kind of implied I might be his girlfriend one day if I wanted..."

"What!"

"I know. I was... dazzled by his magic, excited, perhaps even flattered, but now I've seen his other side and well, what if...?"

Lily's mouth fell wide open. "You came through time to see if he married you!"

The girl squirmed and nodded. "But I suppose I cannot avoid seeing him tomorrow on the train." She turned aside looking quite mournful. "Well... it's been a real adventure anyway."

"Lucky you. Nothing adventurous ever happens to me," said Lily with a glum expression to match the visitor's.

The girl looped the long necklace chain over her neck, then prised open a safety catch on the clockwork attached to the Time-Turner. "I suppose I'd better get back..."

"What, now? How can you? You only arrived here this morning, you said."

"So...?"

"I told you, a person can only time travel once in the same day! It won't work for you again until tomorrow morning – you said you arrived here very early _this_ morning didn't you?"

"But I _have_ to get back! And the mechanics are set for the exact number of turns and can't be unwound. You see, the spring is wound up tight and the mechanism is locked into the – oh, my mum would phone my friend's house if I'm not back by bedtime, and then the police! I'd be in such trouble! I have to try..." Her finger moved to the red button on the device.

"NO, NO, NO!" Lily reached over the hedge to grab the girl's wrist. "If you set it spinning it could be dangerous! At best it will do nothing for you. _Same day, same may, surely fall in harm's way!_ – that's the rule."

" _Same?_ The same person?" The girl leaned forward and looked closely at Lily.

"What?"

" _You_ go."

"ME! You're crazy!"

"No, seriously, we look and sound so much alike. Cover for me, just until an hour or so after midnight. We'll swap clothes. You only need walk in the backdoor, call out that you're tired and going straight to bed. The stairs are on the left and my room is at the end of the corridor."

"I'll do no such thing! Are you mad! Anyway, I'd still be in _this_ garden wouldn't I? I'd have to travel all the way to your–"

"–No, it will unwind where it started."

"Even so, I'm not mad enough to–"

"–You said nothing exciting ever happens to you! This is your big chance: a safe, risk-free adventure that will only be for a few hours."

Lily shook her head. "You're forgetting, _my_ bedtime is only a few minutes away, but I, myself, won't be able to get back here for another twenty-four hours. It makes no sense."

"Once it's unwound you can reset the mechanism for you to come back anytime! Why, you might have already come back and be waiting behind that big bush over there!" She pointed at a particularly tall hydrangea against the far fence, and they both stared towards it for a while, almost expecting to see an arm wave from behind it. A cool night breeze sprang up, stirring the foliage and, for a fleeting moment, Lily did imagine another slight movement beyond it: an elbow? a hand perhaps? – then, although she squinted hard, she saw only the gathering darkness.

The girl, seeing that Lily half-believed, continued excitedly, "So you have to do it if you've already done it! Anyway, if not, I'll cover for _you_ of course!" With a sudden lunge over the hedge, she pushed the Time-Turner into Lily's hand.

Lily gaped at her, then, with a vigorous shake of her head, held the device out at arm's length back towards the strange girl. "Not gonna happen. Even though I can come back to now, I'd still have had to wait in your time for a whole day! I'd have to start at Hogwarts twice! Get sorted twice! Once for you, then back here for me! Anyway, in the cold light of day, your mother would see I'm not you."

The other girl had taken a step back out of Lily's reach. She looked extremely worried now and began muttering half to herself. " _Let's see... I need the Time-Turner back earlier than one day... If you're really already behind that bush you could give me the Time-Turner so I could go back at one in the morning._ "

"After I've gone indoors – which is going to happen any minute now when Mum calls me," said Lily.

"What?"

"No way am I going to meet myself – that might cause a highly-destructive Time echo conflict according to Aunt Hermione."

The visitor did not even ask what that meant but continued thinking out loud. "So... you'd have to send the Time-Turner to me another way..."

"Another way? How can anyone send a Time-Turner on its own through time? And where would it arrive? And how long would it take? And wh–?"

"–Years!" The girl's expression had brightened considerably. "Listen, there is an infallible way of sending the Time-Turner forward through time."

"How?"

"The big tree at the side of my house has a deep cavity close to the earth where I kept my magic shells when I was little so–"

"Your what?"

"Seashells. Oh, they weren't really magic but I thought they were because I could hear the sea when I held them to my ear."

"So...?"

"When you arrive at my garden, put the Time-Turner deep into the tree-hole. It's quite hard to find so you'll have to lie on the grass. Nobody else can ever discover it and that tree is long-lived. I'll retrieve it tonight – Sev told me about the Knight Bus. I'll use the Time-Turner to come back to you, then you can hide somewhere for a day to get past that silly rule, then use it to come back to here" – at this point she waved theatrically at the hydrangea bush to convey her certainty that Lily had already returned there – "and get a good night's sleep in time for school tomorrow. It'll be a wonderful adventure we can tell our grandchildren in years to come!"

Lily's mouth sagged open so wide she could catch a whale but never so wide that she could swallow the nonsense she was hearing. "You. Have. Got. To. Be. Joking! Are you stark, raving–?"

"–LILY! BEDTIME!" came Ginny's cry from the house. Both girls' heads whipped around but only one's attention was on the mother; the other was on the Time-Turner still held out in Lily's hand. Before Lily knew what was happening, the chain was flipped around her neck, another hand closed impulsively on hers and pressed the winder.

Only one girl remained.

"COMING, MUM!" cried the strange girl, scrambling over the hedge. She bit her lip in sudden dread at the consequences of what she had done, then, after a few hesitant moments, she walked slowly up the gloomy path towards the house.

"Cocoa?" Ginny called from the kitchen.

"Not tonight, Mum," said the girl. "I'm tired. I'll go straight up to bed. I don't want to be late in the morning."

"No," said Harry, very sternly. "Come in here please, Lily."

"What? ... Why?"

"Come here," repeated Harry. "We want to see you. We _all_ want to see you."

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The Muddied Shoe

When the darkening garden had dissolved around her, Lily Potter suffered a sensation that she was flying backwards really, really fast. A blur of colours and shapes rushed past and her ears were pounding. She tried to yell but couldn't hear her own voice–

Then once more she felt the grass beneath her feet, and everything came into focus again. Yet...

For a few moments, the stars were failing, many winking out quite noticeably, as if life had departed them. Then, just as suddenly, the night sky struggled, opened its twinkling eyes once more, and Lily felt a cool breeze with quite a different scent.

Her mother was still calling her name, urging her to come in, but the voice rasped rather strangely, as though she needed to clear her throat. And the now-dark garden... was transformed! Even in the failing dusk, Lily knew she ought to distinguish the familiar shapes of the hydrangeas where now she perceived only the black outline of a large tree, She moved towards it.

"LILY!"

"Coming, Mum."

As she blinked and squinted about, trying to make sense of what had happened, something cool and metallic slipped from around her neck and down into the high grass surrounding the bole of the tree – where the mower couldn't reach. In a moment, fear was clutching her heart, drawing her to the only possible explanation, and she began scrabbling blindly on her hands and knees.

"LILY EVANS – GET TO BED THIS INSTANT! How many more times do I have to tell you!"

Frantic now, Lily blurted an incoherent reply then swerved away from her search and scurried towards the bright doorway of the house, stopping and starting with anxious backward glances as she did so, trying to memorise where she had lost the charm. Only as she neared the figure silhouetted in the doorframe did the surname 'Evans' finally receive her attention and confirmed her fear.

"Why, oh why have you put on your school clothes at this time of night, Lily? And..." The woman leaned down to see better. "Oh, for goodness' sake, however did you get mud on your new shoes? The garden's dry as a bone this year!"

There was a frown in the tone of voice that Lily could not discern on the woman's brow in the deepening twilight. "Sorry, uuh... Mum...?"

"Mum? What happened to 'Mummy'?" The lady sighed. "You're growing up too fast what with all this..." – she glanced anxiously around then continued in a softer voice – " _magic_ and so forth. I expect I'll hardly know my little girl by this time next year." She sniffled into a handkerchief and turned back inside the house.

"Come on, leave your shoes down here in the passage and I'll polish them up again. You'd best get to bed; we've got quite a drive in the morning." Her voice lowered as she turned away to speak to someone else. "Don't you be too long either, Tuney."

As Lily gratefully kicked off the shoes and took the opportunity to scurry onto the stairs, she felt another pair of eyes upon her, causing her to halt in mid-stride on the first step. A slightly older girl was hovering against an inner doorway from which came the thin sound of radio music. Lily stared back, murmuring softly to herself, " _Great-Aunt Petunia?_ "

The girl scowled and mouthed what might have been " _Freak!_ "

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A Long Wait

In the darkest hours of the night, Lily crept downstairs in her stockinged feet. All was silent save for the softly-ticking clock in the hallway. Trembling, she opened the backdoor and stepped out into the cool air of the back garden. As she renewed her search for the missing Time-Turner, a friendly half-moon emerged from behind a cloud and, eyes now becoming accustomed to the darkness, Lily found she could easily part the blades of grass and see between them quite well. Even so, many anxious minutes elapsed before a glint of metal drew her attention and she seized the charmed necklace once more.

It took longer to find the small hollow cavity in the tree because woody growth had ringed it like a doughnut, but at last Lily had pushed the Time-Turner inside then crept back to bed leaving the backdoor unlocked for the real Lily Evans.

For an hour she lay there, gnawing at her lip and staring up at the faintly visible ceiling. That changes made in the past took an unknown time to ripple forward into the future she had been told by her aunt, but surely it didn't matter; Lily Evans would still travel back to 'now'? What was keeping her? She'd only have to wait until... yes, that was it. She would have to wait until twenty-four hours after she'd arrived at the Potters, but Lily Potter struggled to remember what that time was exactly. Patience... just relax... She imagined herself back in the future tomorrow. What a tale she'd have to tell on her first day at Hogwarts! There she would be surrounded by wide-eyed kids marvelling at the exploits of The Chosen One's daughter...

As her mind drifted off through those happy thoughts, she sank into strange dreams where everything was almost normal but here and there were curious differences: seeings, sounds, and scents that did not quite fit.

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Meet The Evans

"LILY!"

"Mmm...?"

"Time to get up. You don't want to be late for your first day!"

"Coming, Mum..." murmured Lily, dozing back to a lazy stupor.

Suddenly her eyes were wide open. That had not been her mother's voice!

Tumbling out of bed, Lily knee-crawled, blurry-eyed to the curtain and peeped out of the window. She knew deep down, of course, and the big tree in the garden confirmed it. "I'm still in the past!" Before her, within that tree, was the Time-Turner. Obviously Lily couldn't stay here a moment longer so she'd have to use the device herself as quickly as possible. But how?

Lily grabbed a skirt and top from the wardrobe then _eeked_ softly as she began to dress. The skirt was so short! Fumbling and scraping clothes hangers aside, she found something slightly longer in grey and white tartan with a white pullover, struggled into them, dashed downstairs – straight past the surprised looks of the Evans family who were gravitating towards the breakfast table – then she was out the backdoor.

Lily vaguely heard a male voice cry out behind her, "Lily! Where on Earth are you going?"

But Lily was dashing for the tree and only as she returned with the time device did it dawn on her that the man must be Mr Evans. Tentatively, she said, "Erm... Dad...? Daddy?"

'Daddy' stopped with a spoonful of cornflakes in his mouth and stared at her.

Lily continued, "Did she... uuh... did I tell you how to work this?"

"Your spinning top thing?" crunched Mr Evans, his attention back on the radio news. "Well, you said something about precisely winding it up and setting various hands so it spins longer as I recall – like the second hand and the minute hand is probably for 3,600 twirls or – no that can't be right. Here..." Absently, he stretched out his free hand. "Lob it over and I'll have a fiddle with it in a bit."

"Uumm... perhaps not... ah..."

"Is it ' _magic'?_ " smirked Petunia as she scraped butter on her toast. "Is that why you're even uglier today than yesterday?"

"Tuney!" cried Mrs Evans. "I've told you before about–"

"–Well she is!" cried Petunia. "Look at her fatty face! And she's got her stupid skirt on back to front too!"

"No she's not–" Mrs Evans looked more closely. "Oh, Lily, you do look more rosy today! It's good to see you so bright and healthy for your new school." She glanced at the clock on the wall. "Come on, eat up. We have to leave in less than an hour and you don't want to rush."

"Won't be much traffic on a Sunday," murmured Mr Evans as the voice of Diana Ross burst into song from the wireless. "We'll make Kings Cross quite comfortably."

"OH. MY. GOD!" cried Lily, mouth agape as she realised what lay ahead.

"Lily! Don't use such language!" cried Mrs Evans.

"What?" frowned Lily. "All I said was–"

"Lily, do what your mother tells you," growled Mr Evans.

Petunia twisted her mouth into an evil smirk, toast crumbs and butter around her lips.

"Erm... sorry," said Lily, but her mind was elsewhere. How could she possibly carry on this farce? Experimenting by guesswork with the device that Lily Evans had concocted would be very dangerous; she'd have to return it to the tree and trust the girl would appear during the next hour – she just HAD to!

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Reflecting On Her Future

But as her view of the tree dwindled into the distance through the back window of the Evans' mini car, Lily let out a sob of despair and began silently weeping.

Mrs Evans squirmed around in her seat to look over her shoulder. "Oh, Lily, it'll be alright. You'll soon make new friends and be home for Christmas in no time."

 _In no time..._ the words repeated in Lily's head. _Yes, the other Lily – grandmother – is smart and wants to get back here as much as I want to return there. She must have had trouble getting to the Evans house in the night, but when she does then all this will be undone. Yes! It doesn't matter because it can all be undone in no time!_ She dried her eyes and straightened up more cheerfully, not wondering at all why it hadn't _already_ undone.

" _Only weirdo friends is what you'll make,"_ Petunia murmured under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing."

Lily struggled to remember everything her father had told her all those times she'd pestered him, how Petunia had written to Dumbledore to ask if she might attend Hogwarts too but had been refused. Her heart went out to the girl beside her.

"I'm sorry, Tuney, I'm sorry you can't come with me." She caught her young aunt's hand and held tight to it, even though Petunia tried to pull it away.

"Get off me!" cried Petunia, and she dragged her hand back out of Lily's grasp. "You think I want to go to some stupid castle and learn to be a – a – freak like that Snape boy?"

Lily cringed at the insult but accepted defeat. Her dad had been right that there could be no reconciliation; Snape's contempt for Lily Evan's sister had sealed Petunia's view of magic forever. No wonder Lily Evans had at first been bitter towards her friend Severus on the train until...

Lily Potter tried to recall her father's account of that journey: James Potter! My God, she'd be meeting her grandad as a young boy! What was she to do? She couldn't – _dare not_ – avoid that first encounter because that would risk a circular time paradox; Harry Potter might never be born and neither would she herself! Inevitably she could not then come back in time, the _real_ Lily Evans would meet James as normal, eventually marry, and then both Harry and herself _would_ be born in due time and she'd go back in time to...! The cycle would repeat like an endless whirlpool. Some Muggle physicists had conjectured that black holes are such paradoxes, galaxies collapsing in on themselves to a single instant in eternity – and they might well be right, she thought.

No, unless the real Lily turned up before she met James on the train, she had to act out her part – not daring to cause changes that might break the known chain of events leading to her own existence.

Round and round poor Lily's mind swirled during the journey until finally the little car swung on its suspension into Pancras Road, and Mr Evans pulled to the kerb to let them all out while he drove on to find a place to park. On the corner of the next side street a flash of red hair inside a shop caught Lily's attention. She waved frantically and the girl waved back! Eyes wide, she dashed towards her.

"Lily! Where are you going! It's _this_ way!" cried Mrs Evans, clinging tight to Petunia's hand as they struggled with Lily's baggage. She thrust that hand onto the strap of the large trunk, warning Petunia with a glare not to dare let go or move from that spot, then dashed after Lily.

She found the girl distraught and staring at her own reflection from a large mirror in the window of a home furnishings store. "I thought..."

"What's wrong, Lil? You look fine – you're not fat at all!" said Mrs Evans, somewhat exasperated. She glanced back at Petunia who was still clinging over-dramatically to the luggage strap and scowling at them impatiently, then added, "You shouldn't take any notice of your sister's insults. Or is it the school? You think the other kids won't like you? Is that it?"

When Lily turned around, her face was screwed up with distress and, rubbing tears from her eyes with a fist, she sobbed, "I want ... m-my ... Mummy!"

"There, there, darling," said Mrs Evans, crouching to enfold Lily in her reassuring arms, "Mummy's here."

.

Strangers on a Train

Mr Evans rejoined his family as they were walking into King's Cross station, but poor Lily began to feel more and more isolated despite the crowds around them. They found a near-empty compartment on the Hogwarts Express and exchanged farewells through the window, then she hunched up in a corner seat looking out onto the platform and feeling miserable.

All around was the noise of excited schoolchildren chatting, shouting, bumping their luggage about as they clambered aboard. Even when the train finally began to clatter along the tracks, Lily blotted it all out and withdrew into her thoughts. Inevitably, a few rowdy kids spilled into her private space to join the others in the compartment but she ignored them all.

What was she to do? What _could_ she do? Hitchhike back to the Evans home? Retrieve the Time-Turner, and recklessly guess how to set the clockwork? Take that chance? Impossible! And what of her grandmother, the young Lily Evans? Was she now aboard a future Hogwarts Express taking _her_ rightful place beside _her_ brothers, Albus and James!

She rubbed tear stains from her cheeks as the compartment door banged open and shut once again and another youngster sat down opposite her. One instinctive glance was enough to widen her eyes and return her to the present with a jolt. A sallow face curtained by long stringy hair stared expectantly back at her. Could this really be the boy from whom her brother's middle name was taken? Severus Snape? The very one who drove Lily Evans to visit the future and the terrible fix that now trapped them both and made her fearful of anything she might do!

Impulsively, she blurted out in a constricted voice, "I don't want to talk to you."

"Why not?"

Lily hesitated, trying to think how she ought to respond but not wishing to interact at all within this minefield of time bombs.

"You made Petunia hate me."

"So what?"

She threw him a look of deep dislike. "So she's my sister!"

"She's only a–" He caught himself quickly; Lily, too busy trying to wipe her eyes without being noticed, did not hear him.

"But we're going!" he said, unable to suppress the exhilaration in his voice."This is it! We're off to Hogwarts!"

She nodded, mopping her eyes, but in spite of herself, she half smiled. It would be a curious adventure – to see Hogwarts for a day – and once the Time-Turner was sorted out, everything would be fine.

"You'd better be in Slytherin," said Snape, encouraged that she had brightened a little.

"Slytherin?"

One of the boys sharing the compartment, who had shown no interest at all in Lily or Snape until that point, looked round at the word. Lily was shocked at his appearance which was so very much like a photo of her father when he'd been in Hogwarts. She knew it couldn't be, but her mouth had shaped the word, " _Dad?"_ before she realised – with an aftershock – it must be James, her grandfather.

"Who wants to be in Slytherin? I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?" the boy asked his friend lounging on the seats opposite him, and with a jolt, Lily recognised it was a very young Sirius Black.

"My whole family have been in Slytherin," said Sirius.

"Blimey," said James, "and I thought you seemed alright!"

Sirius grinned.

"Maybe I'll break the tradition. Where are you heading, if you've got the choice?"

James lifted an invisible sword.

"Has to be ' _Gryffindor, where dwell the brave at heart!'_ Like my dad."

Snape made a small, disparaging noise. James turned on him.

"Got a problem with that?"

"No," said Snape, though his slight sneer said otherwise."If you'd rather be brawny than brainy–"

"Where are you hoping to go, seeing as you're neither?' cut in Sirius.

James roared with laughter. Lily sat up, rather flushed, and looked from James to Sirius in dislike.

"Come on, Severus, let's find another compartment."

"Oooooo...!"

James and Sirius imitated her lofty voice; James tried to trip Snape as he passed.

"See ya, Snivellus!" a voice called, as the compartment door slammed.

The finality of the door crashing shut stopped Lily in her tracks. Had she disrupted time itself? Had the real Lily Evans fallen in love at first sight? With _that_ loud-mouthed, arrogant hooligan? Poor Lily Potter struggled to remember. All she knew for sure was that Lily Evans had become James's sweetheart at some point. Surely it couldn't hurt to put it off for a day or so until the real Lily Evans turned up? Tortured by the desperate fear of breaking time's intended fate and yet so unwilling to face that awful lout Potter, her face screwed up tight in conflict.

"Lily?" said Snape, showing real concern for her.

She stared at him. There in the corridor of the Hogwarts Express, Lily Potter gaped at Severus Snape and remembered that he'd truly loved the real Lily Evans. How was she supposed to push him away? What was to be done to separate them?

.

—oOo—

.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 _This short story has only three chapters which I'll put up weekly, but I hope you already find it interesting. I mostly write (and read) only about Harry and friends at Hogwarts but this idea seized me and wouldn't let go!_

 _Many thanks for all comments and reviews. These are most welcome and very encouraging. Let me know of any weaknesses or faults — I'm always trying to improve my writing so feedback is really useful._ :)

 **\- Hippothestrowl**

.


	2. Leading A Charmed Life

.

 _So far... One day before starting Hogwarts, eleven-year-old Lily Luna Potter was sent back in time to take the place of her grandmother for a few hours. But Lily Evans still hadn't appeared by the next morning, so Lily Potter had to continue the pretence and board the Hogwarts Express. There she met James whom she quickly hated when he made fun of Severus. Now read on..._

.

 **Chapter 2**

 **Leading A Charmed Life**

* * *

.

A Tough Start

"Slytherin!" cried the Sorting Hat, and Lily was at once overwhelmed with both relief and grief at the stricken look on Snape's face as, gazing at her sinking in a sea of rowdy Gryffindors, he walked to the Slytherin table.

Was that it? Could it be that the only reason her grandmother, Lily Evans, had married James Potter, was because they were thrown together into the same house? _Well, let it be,_ thought Lily, _but that girl will be in for a terrible shock when she swaps back with me! I bet she'll wish she'd never used that Time-Turner!_

And with that thought, Lily pulled out a sheet of parchment and a travel quill from her bag, then began to write while, all around her, students began to consume the abundant food that had appeared before them.

"How do I–?"

"–send a love letter to your boyfriend? Here, let me show you."

The paper flew out of her hands as she turned to the speaker next to her. It was that horrid James Potter. While she had been preoccupied, he must have changed places with the fair-haired boy who'd been sitting there minutes before. She glared at him for only a moment before letting out a shriek. Her note was fluttering like an injured bird over the table in the direction of the Slytherin table. Instincts honed by years of playing Seeker with her dad in the back garden took over. Up she leapt onto the table – one foot kicking off from a huge tureen of roast potatoes – to snatch the message out of the air then land nimbly on the ground in a half-crouch to cushion the impact.

"LILY EVANS!"

Her heart sank. Professor McGonagall was rushing towards them. Lily rose to her feet, trembling.

"Never – in all my time at Hogwarts–"

Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously," – how dare you – might have broken your neck –"

"It wasn't her fault, Professor–"

"Be quiet, Potter–"

"But I–"

"That's enough, Potter. Evans, follow me – now!"

She strode along beside the Gryffindor table towards the main door. "Miss Brindle, come with me."

A bewildered fifth-year girl pushed away her plate and followed them out to the Entrance Hall.

"Brindle, I think I may have found you a Seeker."

The older girl's face brightened as she realised McGonagall's thinking. Like so many in the Great Hall, she'd witnessed Lily's leap and precision snatch. "Ah... I see what you mean."

McGonagall said, "Evans, you're a natural. I've never seen reflexes like it. Have you ever played Quidditch? – No, of course not. Have you even flown a broomstick yet?"

"I... uuh... no," said Lily, trying to think quickly. If she earned a place on the team, the real Lily Evans would appear rather foolish when she replaced her. A crafty smile spread across her face. _Serve her right!_ "But I'd love to try, Professor."

"Very well, discuss it with Brindle here after your first flying lesson and we'll see how you shape up. Now, back to your dinners, both of you."

James Potter was staring at Lily when she returned. "Where'd you learn to dive like that, Evans? I thought you were a Muggle-born?"

"Oh, why'd you think that?"

James snorted. "The skirt you wore on the train? No self-respecting witch would be seen with bare knees showing."

"Tennis!" blurted Lily, vaguely recalling her father explaining to her the sport showing on a television in a shop window two summers ago.

"What?"

"Like at Wembley... er... _don_. You must have heard of–"

" _Wemblyerdon?_ Yeah, famous place," smirked James, munching thoughtfully on a mouthful of carrots and peas and gravy.

"Wimbledon!" snarled Lily. "– You know where I mean! Throw and snatch."

"I thought they hit rubbery Snitch-things with a fishnet-doodah?"

"Ball-girl, I mean. I was a ball-girl a few times. They have to be good at catching. And they wear short skirts for freedom of movement," she added smugly, as if that proved something which she immediately realised it didn't.

"At _Wemblyerdon?"_

"No, not at Wimbledon, of course! Just a local club," growled Lily, irritated by the arrogance of the boy. She stabbed at her pork roast with a fork and viciously sawed off a portion.

"Which one?"

Lily chewed for quite a while, pretending the meat hadn't long since been entirely swallowed, then quickly stuffed in another morsel.

"Which one?" repeated James.

Lily shook her long red hair like a flaming brand, ignoring him and continuing to chew until her jaw ached.

"What did McGonagall say? House points?"

"Oh, nothing much – just wants me to be the Gryffindor Seeker," Lily said rather smugly, unable to resist the retort and get one up on him.

James blinked quite a lot. "No – freakin' – way!"

She didn't like that word. Tuney had used it at King's Cross and it reminded Lily of when her mother had explained about dad's rough upbringing. Ginny had wheedled it out of Harry in intimate moments over the years but he'd never have burdened his young daughter with that knowledge. Ginny knew better and her account of the suffering he'd endured had moved Lily to tears. She loved her father fiercely despite the irritation of his celebrity.

"We're NOT freaks!" She lifted her plate and slid herself a couple of spaces away along the bench.

"Didn't say you were. It–"

The puzzled boy didn't chase her; he shut his mouth and turned away to listen to Remus and Sirius chattering with Peter. James told himself with a curious mixture of huffiness and regret that he could hardly explain the obscenity to the little girl if she didn't already know.

For her part, Lily continued to fume over her meal. James was hateful. Poor Lily Evans would be making a dreadful mistake in marrying him and no doubt would have a miserable future. But there was no getting out of it; the event had already taken place in reality and if anything happened to prevent it then Lily Potter herself would not exist. She groaned and pushed away her plate. _The sooner Lily Evans arrives, the better,_ she moaned inwardly.

.

A Night at Hogwarts

But the real Lily had still not shown her face by the time the first-years had been led to their common rooms, and how could she? It was only now dawning on Lily Potter that even if Lily Evans had secured the Time-Turner from the tree at the future Christmas holidays and returned to the start of September, she'd have a problem getting into Hogwarts. Did that mean they'd _both_ have to wait four months! No way!

"Excuse me," she said to the almost ladylike prefect who'd guided them so courteously into Gryffindor Tower. "I have an urgent message for my father. Where can I send an owl...?" She folded the parchment over twice and held it up inquiringly.

"You really should have thought of that earlier – it's almost curfew!" The older girl paused with a wry smile as she studied Lily's expression, then sighed resignedly. "Give it here, I'll visit the owlery on my rounds and send it off for you. Better get up to your dorm with the other girls."

Lily thanked her. "And please tell the bird to wait for a reply!"

The helpful prefect rolled her eyes in amusement, snapped her heels together, and saluted before marching off on her duties.

Chasing up the stairs after the other first-year girls, Lily found herself sharing a dormitory with them. After exchanging names and a few polite words with Florence Shaw, the girl in the nearest bed, Lily lay back more alone than she had ever felt in her life, separated both by space and time from her loved ones who weren't even born yet. It was some time before she lapsed into a fitful sleep.

.

To Befriend Or Not To Befriend

It was clear that the Gryffindor prefect from the night before had carried out Lily's request because at breakfast the next morning a grey owl flew down beside Lily's fried bread sandwich. After giving the owl a couple of bacon rinds from it, Lily tore open the envelope it had delivered.

 _Dear Lily,_

 _Wow! You were right – they really do use owls! Sadly, this one brings bad news. I went out late with a torch but there was nothing in the tree. You mean the big elm where you used to keep your seashells? There's nothing there now._

 _I remember you fetching your spinny-thing into the kitchen but are you sure you put it back in the tree? Likely you forgot and left it in your room? I'll have a look round when I get a chance._

 _Be good, and love from your dad as always!_

Lily stared in shock at the words of Mr Evans. How could the Time-Turner NOT be there? She'd been in a rush, yes, but... had she not pushed it far enough into the hole? Had it slipped out into the surrounding grass?

She fretted all that morning through lessons and breaks and walks between classes and finally to lunch. _I can't stay here in the past until Christmas, I just can't!_

"Could you pass the salt please?" a voice murmured on her left.

She frowned. Even if she found the Time-Turner and put it back in the tree, why would that have stopped Lily Evans from returning the first night? Or at least the next morning before they departed for Hogwarts? Had it become broken? Or stolen?

"The salt?"

 _Mrs Evans! What if she'd been curious about where the mud on her shoes had come from and found the Time-Turner instead? What if she fiddled with it and disappeared back to ancient Egypt or something? No, she couldn't have, could she? Mr Evans would have said in his letter. Well, more likely she'd simply put it away for safekeeping._

"Hello? Anyone there?"

"Mmm...?" murmured Lily, vaguely hearing a raised voice.

"The salt?"

"Uumm..." With a wave, she sent the salt pot drifting towards the voice. _But if Mrs Evans had taken the Time-Turner then–_

"How'd you do that?" cried a startled voice.

She looked up. It was the fair-haired boy – the same one she'd sat next to at the Sorting.

"How'd you float the salt like that?"

"Oh... erm..." Her parents and Aunt Hermione had primed her in simple wandless magic from an early age, determined that she'd not wait for Hogwarts to develop and control her magic. ' _What's the point in leaving it till then?'_ they'd said while also warning her to keep quiet about using underage , the Evans could never have done all that.

"Uuh... I didn't realise I had," she replied to the boy. "Did I do that? Must have been accidental magic. Sorry, I was lost in thought."

"Don't apologise; it was brilliant!" said the boy. "I'm Norman by the way, Norman Plunkett.

They touched left hands awkwardly – she with a greasy sandwich in her right, and he with a forked sausage. "Lily... Lily Evans."

He took a bite then pointed the pronged remains at her while nodding and chewing. "I heard Potter say you were a Muggle-born – so your parents wouldn't know what to do. I got a rap on the knuckles when I did accidental magic."

"That's awful!"

"No, not hard, I mean just a soft tap to remind me not to." He bit more into his sausage as if the discipline had long been of no consequence.

"But you couldn't help it! My dad always... he... comforted me and tried to reassure me that it wasn't my fault even though..."

"Yeah, punishment sounds daft now that you mention it. But wizard parents try to control magic whereas your Muggle dad probably just focused on you and explained it away."

Lily thought hard. She'd avoided making any friends so far because there seemed no point, and it would complicate things if the other Lily was to take over soon. But a whole term? Without conversation? Norman seemed quite nice; should she encourage or discourage him? Whatever she did might collapse the universe of time! Perhaps even the absent-minded passing of the salt had already done just that.

The matter seemed to be taken out of Lily's hands over the next few weeks because Florence, one of the girls who shared her dorm, joined their budding company, and she and Norman seemed to have more in common with each other; certainly their conversation dominated the three while Lily was inclined to remain almost mute. Norm and Flo, as they called each other, tended to pair together more in class and homework discussions with Lily seeing herself as an 'extra'. By October, Lily regarded the pair as best friends to each other while she remained 'off-centre'.

Mary McDonald – another girl in her year – was pleasant enough, but reserved, not given to intimate conversation. Still, she was someone to talk to even if casually. By focusing hard on her lessons and homework, Lily kept her distance from everyone else and resolved to limit as much interaction as possible.

The hopes of Brenda Brindle and Professor McGonagall were dashed when Lily deliberately failed her flying classes. Two lessons were required to even get her into the air and thereafter Lily made sure to fly slowly and clumsily. The girl loved Quidditch but had to avoid changing the real Lily's life as much as possible.

She resolved to go back to the Evans at Christmas, find the Time-Turner – digging up the soil around the tree if necessary – then take a chance she could figure out how to use it to return to her own life.

.

The Unwrapped Gifts

But a few days before Christmas, a shock awaited her when she greeted Mr and Mrs Evans at King's Cross Station – they both looked rather upset and Mrs Evans gave Lily a big hug, shaking with emotion, then drew back a pace to look at her. "Oh, Lily, it's only four months but you're growing up so quickly, I'd hardly know you." She paused for breath. "I'm so glad you're safe."

"Uuh... Mummy? What's wrong?"

Mrs Evans stared her in the eye. "What do you mean, what's wrong? Doesn't anyone read the news at your school?"

"No, they don't have ordinary newspapers. Mummy, what's happened?"

"Oh, Lily!" wailed Mrs Evans. "We didn't want to tell you in a message. The police have been searching. It was on the telly – don't you even watch TV anymore? She's been kidnapped! My Tuney's been taken!"

Lily's eyes widened but she was too dumbstruck to speak. Only a "Wh...?" formed silently on her gaping mouth.

Mr Evans said, "Two days ago – the day after her school closed for the holidays. We put up the Christmas decorations together that evening but the next morning she was bored with hanging around the house without you here. We didn't even know she'd gone out, Lil. I could have sworn she was up in her room. She must have slipped out to the park or the corner shop but she... never came back."

Frozen in disbelief, Lily struggled to remember any mention by her dad of Aunt Petunia getting lost as a child or running away or... _She can't be!_ One thing had been certain, Petunia would grow up to marry Vernon Dursley – unless... Lily wondered if she herself had changed a critical event without realising, .

The journey home in the car was mostly silent and sombre. The house felt empty even to Lily, and the following two days leading up to Christmas eve were as dark as the weather. The police visited once to ask Lily if Petunia had ever said anything unusual to her or if she'd given any indication that she might run away. They left without any encouraging words imparted by either side.

To make her feel even more miserable, Lily failed to find any sign of the Time-Turner in or around the tree, nor anywhere indoors. Interrogating the tearful Mr and Mrs Evans didn't seem right in the circumstances so she remained silent on the matter.

Christmas morning was most peculiar. Gifts remained wrapped under the little plastic Christmas tree in the corner. Lily couldn't help but visualise her own presents being opened in her future life by the real Lily Evans, while Harry and Ginny would look on smiling. A sob escaped her lips.

A hand settled on her shoulder, making her jump. "Lily..." said Mr Evans, "we need to be strong and hope Petunia will be..." He moved away as his voice quavered to a halt.

The morning dragged on. The smell of roasting turkey was strong in the air as the family anticipated a mute and miserable dinner. Mrs Evans sat in the living room staring out of the window while her husband's gaze was fixed on the flickering fire. Lily, drifting in and out of the adjoining kitchen, watched them both with a heavy heart, trapped by the mood.

Someone else's voice came from the hall doorway. "Mummy, have you seen my other pink sock? I wanted to wear them on – oh! how did you get here, Lily?" It was Petunia, and she was staring around at the unwrapped gifts below the tree, the table set ready for the feast, the untouched bowls of fruits and nuts on the sideboard.

"TUNEY!" screamed Mrs Evans, rushing to embrace the child.

Petunia flinched at the fierce approach. "But you said I could wear them at parties and things!"

As her mother took Petunia in her arms, the girl peered around her shoulder, recognising some of the gift parcels as ones she'd wrapped herself. "Those are mine! When did you...? Why have we got the presents set out already?"

Lily Potter clutched at the back of one of the dining chairs; something very strange was happening.

Mr Evans had risen to his feet. "Petunia! Where on Earth have you been?"

As Mrs Evans released her, Petunia glanced at the clock on the mantelpiece, then to the set table, and her eyes widened. "I didn't realise it was so late!" She scowled suddenly as an excuse occurred to her. "I didn't hear you call me anyway."

"Call...?" Mr Evans voice almost failed him. "We've been searching for you high and low. Where did you go?"

"Are you hurt? Did... anyone hurt you, Tuney?" wailed Mrs Evans.

Petunia broke away to the kitchen doorway and stared in, feeling the heat of the oven and smelling the turkey being roasted. Nothing made sense. "What's going on?"

"PETUNIA!" roared Mr Evans. "Answer me! Where have you been these last few days?"

"What?" Fear showed on Petunia's face; her father rarely became angry, and he was not making any sense.

"Don't play games, Petunia! What have you been doing since Tuesday?"

Frightened by her father's strangeness, tears formed in Petunia's eyes. "Tuesday? Today's Tuesday, isn't it?" She looked towards the Advent calendar that stood beside the clock, rubbing at her wet cheeks as she went over.

Lily groaned softly. The room seemed to be closing in and her throat was tightening. Mrs Evans moved over to her husband, softly hissing words that Lily felt sure included 'doctor'.

"Tuney," said Lily, very cautiously, "did you take something of mine?"

Petunia quickly rubbed the tear-streaks from her face and glared at Lily. "What if I did? I only borrowed it." A smirk replaced her glare. "It's broken anyway. I threw it away. The dustbin men took it."

"WHAT!"

"I thought it was magic! I wanted to... I spun it lots of times but it did nothing at all."

"The watch? or the–?"

"Of course not! The spinny glass thing."

"How many? How many times did you spin it?"

"I don't know, do I?" cried Petunia.

"A hundred times? A thousand times? Ten times?"

"Don't be silly, I was just twiddling it. I didn't count. Maybe a hundred, I don't know. I was bored on my own. I'm still bored. It was a waste of time."

"You're right," said Lily mournfully. "A waste of days in fact."

Mr Evans said, "You mean that's what made Petunia disappear?"

Lily nodded.

Petunia spat, "It wasn't _me_ that disappeared – it was the days! And now I've missed Christmas morning because of HER!"

"My God!" wailed Mrs Evans, "You mean you've been here all along but we couldn't see you? What are we going to tell the police? The reporters?" She went to the far window that looked out on the street.

"You can't tell anyone!" cried Lily. "There's a secrecy law. The Magical Ministry will Obliviate both them and you – wipe your mind of any memory of it. And I'll..." She realised then the enormous trouble she would be in with the Aurors if the facts came out. Turning to Petunia, she said, "You'll have to tell them you wandered off and got lost and–"

"I WON'T!" cried Petunia. "I've not BEEN lost!"

"They'll never swallow that story, anyway!" Mr Evans shook his head. "They're not stupid, you know."

Lily bit her lip, thinking hard. "I might be able to help – help them accept it, I mean."

"How?"

"Magic."

"I HATE magic!" cried Petunia.

.

Family Reappraisal

Lily had one spell among the many taught her by Aunt Hermione for emergency protection – the Confundus charm – that successfully made the authorities more amenable. She could only perform it very weakly, so pitifully in fact that it couldn't even be traced, but that, along with the two glasses of Christmas sherry, was enough to persuade the two officers of the story of Petunia having got lost while out for a walk.

Dinner had to be postponed until evening, and it was already dark when they sat down. The turkey was added cold to the reheated vegetables which were only slightly over-cooked – though Petunia's heated comments were enough to bake bread. "You made me lie! I didn't do anything and you made me lie!"

"You took what didn't belong to you," said Mr Evans, very firmly. "Let that be a lesson to you." Having distractedly poured a little too much gravy over his meal, he reached for the apple sauce. "It belonged to your sister and now it's gone because of you."

Lily's knife and fork clunked down on her plate. The reminder of the loss of the Time-Turner brought home to her that she was forever lost in time – and separated from her parents.

"Is it the Brussels sprouts, Lil?" said Mrs Evans. "I'm sorry. I did the best I could but what with..."

Lily looked up, awakened by the kindly manner of the older woman. "Oh, Mummy, no! The dinner's lovely. I like mushy sprouts anyway."

"What then?"

Mr Evans spoke up. "It's your magic top, isn't it?"

"It was very important to me," said Lily, very softly.

Mr Evans turned to Petunia. "What day did you throw it away, Tuney?"

"Earlier this morning, of course, like I told you. What's it matter?"

Lily said, "You mean last Tuesday? _Your_ 'morning' from last Tuesday?"

Petunia shrugged.

Lily frowned as she thought about it a bit more. "You can't have. Obviously you must have used it _before_ you threw it away, so that means..." She jumped to her feet and raced to the door. "Where's the–? I mean..." She stopped. She couldn't reveal that she had no idea where the Evans kept their dustbin – back garden? side alley? front gate?

Mr Evans said, "That's right, Lily! You're thinking she really threw it away today?" He jumped up. "Come on, I'll help you."

He grabbed a big torch from a toolbox in the hall cupboard, then led the way up the gloomy, street-lit garden to the front gate where he tipped the contents of the dustbin across the path, glistening and sparkling in his wavering torchlight.

"Dad!"

"We can clear up later. Nothing's more important than my little girl!" He grabbed the rusty trowel that lay next to the yard brush and began scraping through the rubbish.

Lily looked at him in wonder. She had not paid much attention to the Evans as real people previously because she'd not originally expected to be with them for long; the situation was surreal and she had treated it like a dream. They were good people, and Mr Evans clearly loved his daughter as did her real father. Tears sprang to Lily's eyes, blinding her to what glinted amongst the potato peelings.

"Got it!" cried Mr Evans, wiping the gunge off on his sleeve. He held up the treasure.

For a few moments, the stars began failing, many vanishing in waves. Then, the skyscape seemed to shake itself, the milky way was just as it always had been, and Lily found herself recovering from a slight stagger. Eyes still shining, she hugged Mr Evans around the waist.

Astonished, he said gruffly, "There, there..." and patted her head.

.

The Fatal Promise

The remainder of the holiday passed swiftly for Lily. She had examined the Time-Turner and could easily have directly turned it back and forth a few hours, but years? – she could not fathom the purpose of the several levers, knobs, and cogs on the attached watch and certainly dare not experiment with them. Mr Evans was unable to help even though he had modified the device himself because he'd only done so blindly under the real Lily Evans' directions. Lily Potter's only recourse was that of returning the Time-Turner to the tree and wait a few days.

And wait she did. Yet somehow the New Year appeared without the real Lily Evans coming back from the future, and then, inevitably, the day of the return to Hogwarts likewise when a new fear arose within her:

"Petunia, promise me you won't touch my spinning top ever again."

"Who cares about your freakish toys anyway," mumbled Petunia as they scrambled into the back of the car, ready to depart.

"Swear it!"

"Won't!"

"Petunia!" Mr Evans said firmly as he climbed into the driver's seat. "Promise your sister."

Petunia rolled her eyes. "Yes, yes, cross my heart and hope to die. It's just a stupid toy that ruined my Christmas."

Lily didn't speak at all during the rest of the car journey to King's Cross. On the platform, they exchanged goodbyes warmly enough, but she ignored everyone on the train, including Severus – except for the minimum words needed for politeness. She sat silently through dinner in the Great Hall. Lily's prospects were horrifying and her distress was considerable.

All that term and on into the last term of the school year she strove to occupy her mind with schoolwork, and remained remote, cold, and bitter. On her return to the Evans' home at the start of the summer holidays, she found the Time-Turner still tucked away in the tree, safe and secure, mocking her with its conflicting promise and high risk. Three twists of this knurled knob, seven pushes on that brass lever – any such action might propel her to home, hell, or universal annihilation.

Year two was no different than the first – though by sheer immersion in the density of children surrounding her and the pressure of the loneliness caused by her self-imposed isolation, she did make acquaintances and even moderate friendships, of which Mary McDonald was still most often the only one to talk to her at any length.

Each summer she returned to the Evans' home for holidays, she always made sure the Time-Turner was safely secured in the tree so there was still hope. It was at the end of her fourth year when everything changed. Petunia had been humming merrily to herself throughout the car journey from King's Cross, and glancing sideways at Lily frequently.

"What?" scowled Lily.

"Oh... nothing," smirked Tuney, and carried on humming.

And when eventually the vehicle swept up in front of the Evans home and came to rest, Lily felt even more that Petunia's eyes were burning into the side of her cheek. She tried to ignore the unease that grew within her, busied herself with the transfer of luggage to her bedroom, then peered out of the window at the sunlit garden. She gasped, and for a moment the world almost seemed to spin.

"The tree! Where is it?" shrilled Lily, leaping dangerously down the stairs, two at a time.

Mrs Evans was just filling the teapot with boiling water from the kettle. Petunia was smirking from an armchair. Mr Evans could be heard still out on the street beside his car, chatting with a neighbour.

"What dear?" asked Mrs Evans.

"The tree! The big tree!"

Mrs Evans frowned, trying to think, then her expression cleared when she saw Lily pointing out into the garden. "Ah, _that_ tree... the council had it cut down last February. Surely you've heard? Dutch elm disease is spreading everywhere. Won't be an elm left in the country if this continues."

"But..."

The front door clicked and a few moments later Mr Evans walked into the room.

"Dad! The tree's gone!" wailed Lily.

"The tree? Yes. Shame really."

"But my... spinny thing? Did you get it out first?"

"Your...?"

"My spinning top. You know...?"

Mr Evans' head dipped on one side as he tried to remember. He shook his head. Lily realised then it wasn't surprising he didn't recollect an event from four long years ago. But someone did!

"PETUNIA!" Lily whirled around to face the girl. "You remember! Did you rescue it?"

"I wanted to..." Petunia smiled sweetly. "But you made me swear never to touch it."

"But you could have told someone! Told Dad!"

"I didn't know it was that important."

Lily stared at the girl she had, over time, began to think of as her sister. "Tuney, please tell me you saved it for me? Please?"

But Lily knew deep down that all was lost and she sank to her knees clutching at the arm of her dad's armchair for support. She was marooned forever in the past, it had become impossible now for destiny to unfold as it should, and...

 _Then why hasn't the universe collapsed?_

She rose slowly to her feet. The rest of the family were staring at her. Even Petunia looked scared by the intensity of Lily's reaction. This was magic. Who knows what she might have done.

 _I'll do nothing,_ Lily decided, taking a firm stance against adversity. _It's not my fault and the universe can all go hang as far as I'm concerned! Lily Evans cannot now get back in time to marry James Potter, and Dad – Harry Potter, The Chosen One – and I won't even be born!_

She paused for a long moment, thinking, then stomped back up to her room and slammed the door. If she threw herself on her bed and cried, there was no one to see or care.

.

Saving Severus

With no purpose to life, Lily Potter immersed herself more and more in her studies in preparation for the O.W.L.s exams. Fifth year passed slowly. She avoided James whenever she could, though he was a pest if she came across him accidentally. Lily generally arrived at the last minute for classes and tests so she could see where James was sitting before choosing a place as far away as possible for herself.

In this way she found a desk near the back on the left for the Defence Against the Dark Arts O.W.L. exam in the Great Hall. The test went smoothly enough and she kept low until James and his friends had left before gathering up her things and heading out to get some fresh air. Summer was coming so she decided to find a nice spot out by the lake to relax.

There was a commotion not far off her route. Students were laughing at someone on the ground but she couldn't quite see who. He was struggling to get up, as though bound by invisible ropes.

"You – wait," he panted, staring up at another youth that Lily now recognised as James Potter. His friends were nearby. "You – wait!"

"Wait for what?" said Sirius coolly. "What're you going to do, Snivelly, wipe your nose on us?"

Lily gasped as she realised the lad being bullied was Snape. He let out a stream of swear words.

"Wash out your mouth," said James coldly. "Scourgify!"

Pink soap bubbles streamed from Snape's mouth at once; the froth was covering his lips, making him gag, choking him–

Instinctively, Lily ran forward shouting, "Leave him ALONE!"

James and Sirius looked round. James's free hand immediately jumped to his hair. "Alright, Evans?" said James, and the tone of his voice was suddenly pleasant, deeper, more mature.

"Leave him alone," Lily repeated. She was looking at James with every sign of great dislike. "What's he done to you?"

"Well," said James, appearing to deliberate the point, "it's more the fact that he exists, if you know what I mean..."

Many of the surrounding students laughed, Sirius and Peter included, but Lupin, intent on reading a book, didn't, and nor did Lily.

"You think you're funny," she said coldly. "But you're just an arrogant, bullying toerag, Potter. Leave him alone."

"I will if you go out with me, Evans," said James quickly. "Go on ... go out with me and I'll never lay a wand on old Snivelly again."

Behind him, his Impediment Jinx was wearing off. Snape was beginning to inch towards his fallen wand, spitting out soapsuds as he crawled.

Lily sneered. "I wouldn't go out with you if it was a choice between you and the giant squid."

"Bad luck, Prongs," said Sirius briskly, and turned back to Snape. "OI!"

But too late; Snape had directed his wand straight at James; there was a flash of light and a gash appeared on the side of James's face, spattering his robes with blood. James whirled about: a second flash of light later, Snape was hanging upside-down in the air, his robes falling over his head to reveal skinny, pallid legs and a pair of greying underpants.

Many people in the small crowd cheered; Sirius, James and Peter roared with laughter.

Lily, whose furious expression had twitched for an instant as though she was going to smile, said, "Let him down!"

"Certainly," said James and he jerked his wand upwards; Snape fell into a crumpled heap on the ground. Disentangling himself from his robes he got quickly to his feet, wand up, but Sirius said, "Petrificus Totalus!" and Snape keeled over again, rigid as a board.

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Lily shouted. She had her own wand out now. James and Sirius eyed it warily.

"Ah, Evans, don't make me hex you," said James earnestly.

"Take the curse off him, then!"

James sighed deeply, then turned to Snape and muttered the counter-curse.

"There you go," he said, as Snape struggled to his feet. "You're lucky Evans was here, Snivellus–"

"I don't need help from filthy little Mudbloods like her!"

Lily blinked. "Fine," she said coolly. "I won't bother in future. And I'd wash your pants if I were you, _Snivellus."_

"Apologise to Evans!" James roared at Snape, his wand pointed threateningly at him.

"I don't want you to make him apologise," Lily shouted, rounding on James. "You're as bad as he is."

"What?" yelped James. "I'd NEVER call you a – you-know-what!"

"Messing up your hair because you think it looks cool to look like you've just got off your broomstick, showing off with that stupid Snitch, walking down corridors and hexing anyone who annoys you just because you can – I'm surprised your broomstick can get off the ground with that fat head on it. You make me SICK."

Lily turned on her heel and hurried away.

"Evans!" James shouted after her. "Hey, EVANS!"

But she didn't look back.

.

—oOo—

.

* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 _Many thanks for all comments and reviews. These are most welcome and very encouraging. Let me know of any weaknesses or faults – I'm always trying to improve my writing so feedback is really useful._ :)

 **– Hippothestrowl**

.


	3. Changing Circumstances

.

 _So far... One day before starting Hogwarts, eleven-year-old Lily Luna Potter was sent back in time to take the place of her grandmother for a few hours. But the Time-Turner was lost when disease struck the elm tree in which it was hidden so Lily Potter had to continue the pretence of being Lily Evans, not just for hours, but for several years at Hogwarts. There she'd met James whom she hated because of his arrogant bullying – particularly of the young Severus Snape. Now read on..._

.

 **Chapter 3**

 **Changing Circumstances**

* * *

.

In Denial

During the summer holidays after her fifth year at Hogwarts, Lily lost her way. Back in the future, the girl had yearned to be an Auror like her dad. She'd been far too young for such an ambition to be anything but childish idealism in an effort to emulate and impress her father –though it had given her life meaning and direction. Now she had no real life at all. She was living a fiction, a fakery, she told herself.

Without lessons, there was little to occupy her mind at the Evans home. Lily took to walking around the garden or sitting with a book propped up on her knees. Often the story would lose her interest and she'd find herself staring at the place where the great tree had once stood, still not quite believing the Time-Turner was gone forever.

It was gone alright. She'd dug over the spot more than once but her efforts had been futile. Lily felt ruined, worthless, a soul in a body without a real life.

"Post!" Mrs Evans called from the backdoor.

Lily looked up. Her adopted mother was pointing up in the sky. Sure enough an owl was winging its way down to her: a Hogwarts owl.

"It'll be next year's book list." She rose to her feet and moved to the nearby fence so the bird could perch. From her pocket she found a few owl treats and exchanged them for the envelope tied to the outstretched leg.

The girl was right of course but there was something more:

"My exam results!" Lily had quite forgotten her O.W.L.s; they hadn't seemed that important. Now she felt a rising curiosity as she studied the list. The fact that she'd attained an Outstanding in Potions didn't surprise her but another in Defence! Astronomy too! And... she gaped.

"Well?" said Mrs Evans, who had come smiling to her side.

"Eight Outstandings! And even an Exceeds Expectation in History!"

Mrs Evans hugged her. "Well done, darling."

As she released her, something shiny slipped down into the grass at their feet.

"What _is_ that?" said Mrs Evans.

Lily reached down then stared in disbelief at what she found. "It's a prefect badge..."

"Oh, Lily! I'm so proud of you!"

After scrabbling in the envelope, Lily found a second letter confirming her new status. Only then did she accept what had happened. "They've made _me_ a prefect?"

Over the next few days, as Lily contemplated the results and her new duties, a change took place in her thinking. She'd been accepted for what she was! So what if she wasn't the real Lily Evans? McGonagall would not hand out a prefect badge to just anyone! And her exam results? She hadn't really tried – no! she'd worked hard without really _caring!_ Without attaching any real purpose to her studies, she _had_ put in a lot of time on the the task, mostly to occupy herself.

Another thought suddenly occurred to her: James! She could now put that insufferable toerag in his place! No way on this Earth would McGonagall have made that arrogant bully a prefect. _Just let me catch him now with his wand out in the corridors!_

There was a glee of anticipation as she boarded the Hogwarts Express at the start of September, and walked slowly along the corridor while glancing into every compartment she passed. Lily turned slightly when she reached James and his friends, making sure her shiny new toy would catch his eye. It appeared to do so! Was that regret or remorse she saw on his face? Certainly his shoulders sagged a little as she swept proudly on. Why, she might almost feel pity for the...

She stiffened herself and lengthened her stride. _He's an arrogant, insufferable PRAT!_ she reminder herself firmly. _Yes!_

Her attitude was bolstered even further when she found Remus Lupin amongst the other prefects in the prefects carriage. James had been fully put in his place!

But no matter how hard she tried over the following months, she could not catch him out in a single misdemeanour. Certainly, according to rumour, Severus and he were still exchanging painful hexes, but never when she was around. Other than that, the boy had lost his strut and Lily could not but think that envy of her own promotion had something to do with that.

"Why are you so preoccupied with him, anyway?" said Mary Macdonald one day as they sat together in the Gryffindor reading room. "Anyone would think you fancy him."

Lily almost knocked her homework on the floor as she swept out her arms in fervent rejection. "Me? Me and that... that... dreadful ... conceited ..."

"Take a breath now and again," smirked Mary. "He's good-looking.."

"P'uh!" cried Lily disdainfully.

"Polite and kindhearted.."

"Are you seriously mental?"

"Open your eyes. He's changed this last year. All the girls are after him."

"Except ME!" Lily spat out between gritted teeth.

Nevertheless, she grudgingly admitted to herself, there _had_ been an early encounter where James had helped a first-year who'd stepped onto the wrong moving stair. Lily had assumed the worst:

"Leave him alone, Potter, or I'll deduct points!" she'd shouted up at them before pushing past a bewildered Sirius to flounce off to her next class. She'd never believed the protests James had shouted after her, and she refused to believe them now – certainly not in front of Mary who'd accused of her actually _liking_ the bully.

"He's a useless, nasty dirt bag and just as ugly," Lily insisted both to Mary and herself.

.

The Thaw

For the rest of the school year, circumstances tried to sway Lily, but she was adamant in her opinion of James Potter. However, fate began to test her most cruelly at the start of her seventh year:

"Head boy? YOU? I don't believe it!" Lily stared as James Potter and Remus Lupin swayed into the prefects carriage as the Hogwarts Express accelerated noisily over the switching points out of Kings Cross on its long journey to Hogwarts.

"Believe me, I was as surprised as you," James replied.

"But you were never even a prefect! How are you supposed to instruct...?" She waved her arms towards the new recruits who were listening with interest. Remus moved to one side looking decidedly uncomfortable.

"For that, I bow to your own experience and expertise," said James, pointing at her own Head Girl badge then literally bending over at the waist in a sweeping gesture of obeisance.

Lily huffed and she puffed but there was no getting out of it. As Head Boy and Girl they would have no choice but to cooperate and act as a team.

To his credit, James endured her coldness during the months into December. His concessions were many and his demeanour always considerate and polite, making it very difficult for Lily to find fault. There were less opportunities anyway, for they were both extremely busy studying for their N.E.W.T. exams. Leisure time was almost non-existent so fault-finding had to be winkled out of their shared Head duties. Oh, she tried right enough:

"But haven't you–?"

"–I did it earlier. Was that alright?"

"I suppose... and what about–?"

"–I wanted to give you the option. I know how you like organising the patrol duties."

"Hmpf..."

She felt his absence over the Christmas holiday and by February, her manner towards him was softening such that when he suggested they carry out their watch duties together during a Hogsmeade weekend, she agreed without thinking it through. There was still a little snow on the cobbled streets. James guided three second-years around a deep slushy puddle and conjured up a warning sign. And when, about lunchtime, he noticed Lily shiver, he suggested, through chattering teeth, that they take a hot meal in the Three Broomsticks together.

"What happened to you?" she carelessly blurted her thoughts as he began spooning out a warming broth into her bowl.

He didn't speak for a while and she thought his jaw might still be frozen.

" _You_ happened to me," he finally said, and he laid down the serving spoon and offered her bread sticks.

"Hi, Lily!" cried Mary, Flo, and Norman in a greatly exaggerated sing-song fashion as they walked by, dragging cold air in with them as they walked towards the bar. Lily glared at them but was glad of the distraction. It gave her time to think.

"You changed because of _me?"_ She waved away the bread and began sipping hot broth with her spoon.

"You set a high benchmark." He watched her lips curving over the shiny metal. "Looks delicious."

She nodded and a little gravy drooled down her chin, much to her annoyance.

"We should do this more often," he said, waggling a soggy steaming piece of bread at her before consuming it in one big gulp.

She frowned at him. "Don't count this as one of your conquests, Potter."

He sighed. "When, oh when will you start calling me James? I've asked you often enough."

"When you stop calling me Evans." She immediately regretted what she'd said.

"I've not called you Evans in ages."

"You don't call me anything!"

He pushed away his dish half-finished. He seemed to be struggling to say something. "I never liked calling you Evans and..."

"And what?"

"and yet you snap at me so much, I'm... _afraid_ to call you Lily – unless you want me to, that is."

If he'd hoped for her to offer, then he was disappointed. The surrounding chatter of the packed room swelled at that moment and took some to time to diminish. She swallowed her last spoonful before carefully snorting. It didn't sound as disparaging as she'd expected. "You? Afraid?"

"I hate it when you ... hate me."

"Ready for your steaks?" Rosmerta was moving in with a tray. "You are both seventeen, right? They're part-steamed in brandy pepper with a flame-grill finish."

They nodded. "Thanks, Rosmerta," said James.

They began their main meal in silence for a while.

James finished his first mouthful then cleared his throat nervously. "Lily... I can call you Lily, can't I?" – Lily was preoccupied with the flavour and delicate texture of the meat so she kept quiet as he continued mumbling – "I want you to know... that is... I know you've... I mean... I do care about you..."

"This is so tender," she said as she sawed off another tiny portion of steak and popped it in her mouth.

Encouraged, he went on, "Yes, well, uumm... it's what I've felt for some time. So... uuh... is it alright then...?"

"It's more than alright," she smiled. "It's so sweet and... well, it's simply lovely. I've never had this before."

He blinked. "Would you go out with me then? Properly, I mean?"

"What?"

"A date? On a real date?"

She frowned. "You still trying that on?" She paused while another little piece of the beef almost melted in her mouth.

Through the nearest window, the sky darkened quite quickly, and Rosmerta, expecting a storm, raised her wand to brighten the torches.

The room swam in Lily's eyes slightly but it didn't matter. The meal was delicious and the atmosphere intoxicating; she was enjoying the occasion. She heard herself say, "I'll think about it."

The windows brightened and Rosmerta, puzzled, lowered her wand.

James sat up straighter in his chair and his eyes widened. He'd expected her to say no. "Another Hogsmeade? Or Easter is only weeks away. We could go Muggle if you prefer? Pin Bowling? Moving Pictures? Boat up the Thames to Kew Gardens? Make a day of it? You live down there, don't you?"

His enthusiasm made his enticements sound so romantic that she'd didn't have the heart to tell him she lived in the midlands near a grimy, polluted river in Cokeworth. She was of age now and the Evans weren't really her _legal_ guardians anyway, were they? She could book a hotel room in London and they'd never know. They'd think she was still at Hogwarts. "Okay then."

.

No Swagger

When Lily and James returned to Hogwarts later that afternoon she excused herself and went to her dorm for a lie-down. After a couple of hours sleep she awoke with a slight headache and could not help but wonder about the strength of the brandy used in the preparation of the steak. Had she really agreed to go to the Three Broomsticks with James Potter? Had he then contrived to get her drunk? It was unlikely because she herself had chosen the meal.

Tentatively she went downstairs, half-expecting to find James bragging about his latest victory to half the common room. Instead, he strode over from a corner seat looking very concerned.

"You alright, Ev... uuh... Lily? I was worried about you."

"Just tired out. I'm going to ask Madam Pomfrey for a headache potion."

"I'll come with you... uumm, would you like me to come with you?"

She squinted at him, still only half-awake. _Is this really the James Potter I've hated for the last six years?_ "Yes if you want to."

They walked in silence for a few moments then James said, "Are we still good?"

"Good?"

"For Easter? Kew Gardens?"

Lily's headache suddenly pounded more ferociously. _Merlin's Bones! I agreed to go on a date cruising up the Thames with James Potter!_ She could hardly back down, not even for James Bloody Potter!

She nodded and waves of pain crashed across her skull.

He stiffened, unsettled by her less than enthusiastic agreement. When they reached the hospital wing and Madam Pomfrey quickly administered a potion, he put her halfhearted response down to the distraction of her pain.

Nevertheless, through the following month, whenever she was not occupied with her N.E.W.T.s, he redoubled his efforts to win her heart. He was not stupid. James knew that ruffling up his hair and catching snitches was not going to impress a smart girl like Lily Evans. Remus and Sirius both recommended he simply let his good side show through.

"Just be yourself," said Lupin, "but without the swagger."

That came easier than James expected. Indeed, he seemed to have lost much of his swank during the previous year. Other girls had certainly noticed and, while a few had lost interest, many were even more enamoured of the boy.

Nor was this lost on Lily. In the weeks up to Easter she occasionally felt twinges of possessiveness. She'd even begun to worry that, since the galaxy still hadn't collapsed into a black hole, perhaps the real Lily might yet discover the means to return to her and steal James away. Her features stiffened at the thought. That girl had no right to come back after all this time!

The trip to Kew went well. The air had been cool over the water but James had thoughtfully brought along a spare sweater which he gallantly offered to her. In the gardens they walked among the trees, lunched in the open air. Astonishingly, she did not resist his kiss on the journey back down the Thames...

By summer there could be no doubt that they were both very much in love. The release that followed the final N.E.W.T. exam opened up new opportunities. They met frequently while awaiting the results and discussed a career together in the Auror service.

The real Lily Evans was mostly forgotten. Within a year of leaving Hogwarts, Lily Potter married James Potter without any qualms of conscience. She had come to believe that cause and effect could only travel _forward_ and never _back_ in time. That although Harry Potter and therefore herself could not possibly exist in the future, she herself had avoided extinction by travelling back in time – out of reach of future consequences. She would make the best of her new life. Whatever would be would be.

.

Great Expectations

The couple did join the Auror service and were soon embroiled in the war against Voldemort. But not all was doom and gloom:

"So there's no doubt?" said Lily as she watched the St. Mungo's healer studying the glow of colour caused by her spell.

"You're pregnant alright," smiled the woman. "You can expect a baby next July or possibly August. Most likely a girl but we can't be certain yet."

Waves of emotion passed through Lily's mind. The prospect of raising a little girl, leading her through all the difficulties of growing up, was a joyful one to contemplate. Wait till she told James! What name would they choose? Anna? Helen? Or something more exotic as a counterpoint to their more mundane surname? Seriphany? Yes, Seriphany Potter sounded grand. She'd put it to James that night.

They had set up home in a little cottage in Godric's Hollow. Lily wondered if it might even have been the same one her grandparents had chosen, but that wasn't important now.

James was sent for on the day that Lily was taken into St. Mungo's once more. How he fretted and worried in the waiting room outside the labour wards!

Protected by a charm, she was spared the worst of the pain – though Lily had a surprise when the midwife presented the young mother with her new baby!

James was called in to be with his wife and it would not have been easy to determine which of them glowed more.

"Well," he said, "we've not prepared for this. 'Seriphany' is definitely out!"

"His name's Harry," said Lily, very firmly as she gazed at the dark tousled patch of hair and the beautiful eyes of grey that she now felt certain would, in a few months, match her green. "Harry James Potter."

.

The Great Escape

Anxiety grew for Lily during Harry's first year. She knew now that the circle of fate would not be denied and that, during magical time travel, cause did go back time to affect the past. Naming Harry had pronounced a death sentence upon herself, but could she somehow save James? How? Perhaps she might arrange for him to be called away next Halloween? And yet future history had already recorded his presence at home and his murder.

An illusion then? There were ways to replace a body with a replica. But how could James escape past Voldemort's anti-Apparition and anti-Portkey wards? There was a way, but James would need to know everything. Everything!

How could she? How could she possibly tell him that she'd tricked him into marrying his own as-yet-unborn granddaughter? Yet her love for James was far greater than her fear of him hating her.

An evening was taken up by the tortuous explanation of how she'd used the Time-Turner. Then a week for him to accept it. He'd been too shocked to think it through on the Monday. By the next day he'd rejected her story. On the Wednesday he was furious. James wept for most of Thursday – then begged her forgiveness on the Friday. Saturday was a day of disputing the details:

"But _you_ can be saved too!" he cried.

Lily's shoulders sagged. "I thought you already understood? If I don't sacrifice myself then Harry will die instead. I will never be born and..." Visions of galaxies imploding arose in her mind. "If I'm not going to die then it won't be a true sacrifice, will it?"

James appeared to shrink into himself. He sank down onto a chair, staring at his son crawling on the floor; the boy was learning to stand with help now, but James yearned to save him from his later fate.

"That bloody Vernon! I'll–!"

"You can't! You can't change anything that is known to have happened! And that reminds me, stop glaring at Peter. You mustn't make him suspect that we know."

"Suspect? I'll rip his guts out and strangle him with them – then he might begin to suspect!"

Lily sighed. "Let's go over the plan once more. ... On Halloween night we'll be playing with Harry."

She dragged him to his feet then pointed to an ornamental pottery stag on the sideboard. "Imagine that is the carcase of the young buck we'll be using, but hidden underneath the sideboard." She moved it there. "That part of the floor can't be seen from the window," Lily added as she went over to confirm the angle once more.

"I go upstairs to warm Harry's cot, light his lantern, and so on like I normally do." She went to the open doorway. "That will be your cue to transfigure the real deer into your image – well, I'll remind you anyway. No, maybe you do it first then I go upstairs is better. It'll be gross enough, we don't want to do it too early." She came back into the middle of the room and stared at him. "Go on then, do it!"

Sullenly he did so and a pottery figure of himself sulking now lay below the cabinet.

Lily went back to the doorway. "Okay, so I go upstairs like I said and you continue playing with Harry. Amuse him with your coloured smoke thing but I don't think such incidentals matter. Remember, at this point Voldemort will be at the fence and looking through the window at you, so look happy!"

James forced a twisted smile.

"When I come back down, you hand Harry over to me then throw your wand onto the sofa. ... Do it!"

He threw it onto the settee.

"After I've taken Harry upstairs, the front door will burst open. You must grab your wand, conceal it, run into the hall but only halfway outside this door, then shout up the stairs to me, 'Lily, take Harry and go! It's him! Go! Run! I'll hold him off–' ... Go on, DO IT!"

James picked up his wand then walked slowly into the hall and said in a monotone, "Lily, take Harry and go. It's him. Go. Run. I'll hold him off."

Lily ran past him to the front door, turned, and pulled out her own wand. "Now I'm Voldemort, right? As I raise my wand you must summon the body – silently remember, and with your wand obscured – then instantly use the Revulsion jinx to throw yourself backwards hidden by the bright green flash."

"I'll be dead and anyway he won't fall for that."

"He'll see what he expects to see! He'll throw the killing curse and see your body fall down. Look, this is what we're going to do so IT MUST HAVE ALREADY HAPPENED! This is how it always happened – get it?"

"No."

"Do it anyway. Ready?"

"No. Listen, we could use Portkeys instead. I can get them from work and no questions asked."

Lily groaned with exasperation. "They won't go through Voldemort's wards, remember?"

"They won't need to, will they? ... I'm talking about switching the bodies, not escaping."

"Aah... yes, that's right! He'd never think of any reason to use a Portkey to move _within_ the house, would he? Yes, let's do that. ... Okay, for now, let's test it how I said. Ready?"

He braced himself, then she raised her wand. "Lumos Viridi!"

There was a flash of green and she saw the little figurine crash to the floor where James had been. "Merlin's Bones!"

"Well?" said James, as he came back out of the living room and repaired the ornament with a swish of his wand.

"It actually bloody worked! It looked convincing and it'll be even better with Portkeys!"

He grinned despite himself.

"Your performance was rubbish though," snapped Lily, wiping the smile off his face. "You'd better liven your ideas up if you want to save your son's life next Halloween."

.

Back to the Future

"LILY! BEDTIME!" Ginny shouted from the house.

"COMING, MUM!" cried little Lily Evans, scrambling over the hedge. She bit her lip in sudden dread at the enormity of what she had done in sending Lily Potter back in time, then, after a few hesitant moments, she walked slowly up the gloomy path towards the house.

Ginny called from the kitchen. "Cocoa?"

"Not tonight, Mum," said the girl. "I'm tired. I'll go straight up to bed. I don't want to be late in the morning."

"No," came Harry's voice very sternly. "Come in here please, Lily."

"What? ... Why?"

"Come here," repeated Harry. "We want to see you. We _all_ want to see you."

Grudgingly, young Lily Evans walked slowly into the kitchen, lowering her gaze so they might not see her face too clearly.

"Lily," said Harry, "I'd like you to meet my father, James Potter."

The girl's mouth fell open as she looked up to see an older man beside Harry and Ginny.

"Hello Lily," said the man. "I've heard so much about you."

"But – but... I uuh... pleased to meet you, sir, but erm... I have to get to bed. Have to be up early in the morning."

She started to turn away but the man said, "It was the real Lily Potter who told me all about you. She said there's no point in worrying about the Time-Turner anymore – it was accidentally destroyed. Lily Potter then became marooned back in 1971 and you can't help her there anymore. I'm afraid that... ah..."

The sound of the garden door could be heard opening followed by footsteps approaching the kitchen.

"Here she is now..."

A middle-aged witch with greying hair entered. "Hello Lily. I couldn't resist lurking behind the hydrangea bush to see myself off."

The eyes of Lily Evans bulged in astonishment. "Lily...? You're Lily Potter? But I just..."

The woman nodded. "The plan failed. Disease destroyed the old elm and your Time-Turner was lost with the tree's removal. Knowing you could never return, I took your place – not just for a few hours, but for life."

"Noooo...!" Lily Evans blinked tears of shock as the result sank in of her impulsive action of only minutes before. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"Don't be," said James. "We have a wonderful life and in a curious way, you saved yourself and myself from an early grave."

"Cocoa," insisted Ginny. "Take a seat, everyone. There's room for all."

There was a shuffling of chairs as they gathered around the kitchen table.

Harry said, "We've known my parents for years – ever since we left Hogwarts ourselves actually – but we could never tell you until–"

"–tonight," said Ginny, "but we never knew exactly which night. We couldn't risk us knowing... that is, if we'd have known, I'd probably have prevented..." She stopped pouring cocoa to mop at her eyes once more.

"Oh, Mum..." said the older Lily. "You've not lost me, and now you have another child to love and care for as well."

"But you're...?" spluttered Lily Evans, "you're older now than your own Mum?"

Lily Potter smiled. "And my father is also my son, aren't you, Dad?"

The young girl almost dropped her cocoa.

"You'll always be our Lily," said Harry. "We've always thought of you as our little girl all grown up," he said solemnly.

Lily Potter said, "Because that's the only way you remember me." She sighed. "We longed to meet you during all those years of secrecy and separation while you were at Hogwarts."

Little Lily Evans said, "But why did you have to hide all that time?"

James said, "You might not know yet but Voldemort planned to kill us. With our foreknowledge, I escaped Voldemort and went into hiding."

" _You_ did? But what about you, Lily?" said the young girl.

James smiled at his wife. "She had to knowingly sacrifice herself to save Harry."

"So how...?"

"As she was allowing herself to be killed, I switched her body for another using Portkeys exactly as I'd done for myself. She's still not forgiven me for not telling her in advance!" he smirked. "Which of course, I couldn't."

Lily Potter mock-glared at him.

But Harry was looking at his mother with overwhelming pride and admiration. "And I'm forever grateful for what you did for me – as my Mum."

"That's alright. Anything for you, Dad."

"But..." Lily Evans had abandoned her cocoa and was squirming with the enormity of what she was hearing. "But, Lily, if you are your own grandmother, who did _you_ descend from? Where did you come from?"

"Well, I've acquired much from Mum of course, especially my red hair, but my eye colour I could not inherit; it began solely with me and is a product of the eternal mystery of Time which demanded my eyes match yours. In some ways, I, myself, am a child of Time."

"Then what am I?" wailed Lily Evans. "I'm nothing at all. I'm not the real Lily Potter." She turned to Harry who stood beside her. "I'm not your real daughter and now I won't be your mother either! I don't belong anywhere and I can't be loved again."

Harry's hand settled on her shoulder. Ginny swept around the table and took the girl into her arms. "You belong to us now, Lily Evans, and know this: we've been thinking of you as Harry's mum even if you weren't, and so loved you for a very long time."

"All my life," said Harry.  
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The End

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* * *

 **Author's Notes**

 _In her review to Chapter 1, Alicia Olivia Mirza pointed out that in the books Lily Luna doesn't inherit her grandma's eyes, only Albus does. That's why JK Rowling expressed it that way rather than explicitly say Lily Luna's were some other colour. JKR knew you see, that one day someone would discover her great secret: That Lily Luna always was her own grandmother, so she could never inherit from herself because she is her own origin! Honest!_ ;)

 _Many thanks for all comments and reviews. These are most welcome and very encouraging. Let me know of any weaknesses or faults – I'm always trying to improve my writing so feedback is really useful._ :)

 **– Hippothestrowl**

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